Passage

Matthew 1.18-20

Book: Matthew · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"16. Woe Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. 17. Ye all the generations from Abraham unto David are fourteen generations; and from David unto the carrying away to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon unto the Christ fourteen generations."

"18. And, the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. 20. He when he thought on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit."

"21. And she shall bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name JESUS; for it is he that shall save his people from their sins. 22. Now all this is come to pass, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying," (Matthew 1:16-22, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"16. Jacob became the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. 17. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the exile to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon to the Christ, fourteen generations."

"18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this; for after his mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19. Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, intended to put her away secretly. 20. But when he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take to yourself Mary, your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit."

"21. She shall give birth to a son. You shall call his name Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.” 22. Now all this has happened, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying," (Matthew 1:16-22, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"16. And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. 17. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations."

"18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. 19. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. 20. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. ^{conceived: Gr. begotten}"

"21. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. ^{JESUS: that is, Saviour, Heb} 22. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying," (Matthew 1:16-22, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"16. and Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was begotten Jesus, who is named Christ. 17. All the generations, therefore, from Abraham unto David [are] fourteen generations, and from David unto the Babylonian removal fourteen generations, and from the Babylonian removal unto the Christ, fourteen generations."

"18. And of Jesus Christ, the birth was thus: For his mother Mary having been betrothed to Joseph, before their coming together she was found to have conceived from the Holy Spirit, 19. and Joseph her husband being righteous, and not willing to make her an example, did wish privately to send her away. 20. And on his thinking of these things, lo, a messenger of the Lord in a dream appeared to him, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, thou mayest not fear to receive Mary thy wife, for that which in her was begotten [is] of the Holy Spirit,"

"21. and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.' 22. And all this hath come to pass, that it may be fulfilled that was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying," (Matthew 1:16-22, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

Jesus Didnt Know the Hour Objection Defeater

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.